The Guardians of the Forest
by Fanficaholics Anon
Summary: Deep in the heart of New Zealand forests, ancient, mystical creatures live. When Will Zimmerman encounters these creatures, they take one of the things he holds most dearly and he has to race against time to retrieve her from the Patupaiarehe.


**Title: The Guardians of the Forest **

**Penname(s): **

**Fandom: Sanctuary**

**Pairing(s): Will/Helen friendship**

**Picture #: 43 **

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sanctuary, and I don't intend**

**to make any money out of this story. I also don't wish to cause any offense over the topics shown in this text. Many are fictional, and I will leave you, the reader, to decide which ones aren't. **

**Summary: Deep in the heart of New Zealand forests, ancient, mystical creatures live. When Will Zimmerman encounters these creatures, they take one of the things he holds most dearly and he has to race against time to retrieve her from the Patupaiarehe.**

**Submitted for the 100 Pictures – An Anon Fanfic Competition**

The cold water swished past their knees, and William Zimmerman swore he could feel eels, or at least fish, darting past his legs as well. His boss, Dr Helen Magnus, stopped about fifty metres in front of him.

"Keep up!" she hollered. "At this rate, people will think you're older than me!"

Helen was in fact one hundred and fifty-eight years old, but she wasn't going to tell any normal person that. For starters, they wouldn't believe her. She barely looked forty.

"Well, I guess you have a habit of doing this," Will answered, "but I don't generally spend much time walking through rivers in countries I haven't been to before."

"There is always a first time for everything, Will. You, of all people, should know that." Helen turned and continued traipsing up the river. Will rushed to keep up.

"What are we looking for, exactly?" Will asked. "All you said to me before was 'Would you like to come on a trip with me to New Zealand?' Naturally, I said yes, but you still haven't told me why we are here. I kinda thought it would be a little more orthodox than walking through a mountain stream in the middle of nowhere."

"It's hardly the middle of nowhere," Helen retorted. "It's just the Waioeka Gorge near Gisborne. And to answer your question, we are here to capture an abnormal."

"Huh, now that is a surprise," Will said sarcastically. "I couldn't have ever seen **that **coming."

Helen continued, as if Will had never spoken, "This abnormal has been killing native creatures around here, and some members of the Australian Sanctuary thought we should come and find it before it does any more damage."

"Well, why couldn't they have come over here?" Will asked.

"The Abnormal population at the Australian Sanctuary was infected with the Lazarus Virus. They are being vaccinated, but sending their staff over here would have breached their containment."

"Oh, right." Will wisely decided to shut up for a while.

They rounded a bend of the river and saw something that was definitely out of place in this cold environment.

There were two girls splashing about in the river. This wouldn't have seemed too strange if they were wearing wetsuits like Will and Magnus, but these two were only wearing short-sleeved, blue, cotton shifts. They had long, red hair and pale skin. They also seemed to be indifferent to the below zero temperatures. Will felt cold just looking at them.

They stopped playing and waded out of the water, glancing at Helen and Will curiously.

_They look like they've never seen another human being before_, Will thought.

"Um, hello," Will said, moving slightly forward. "We just wanted to know if you've seen anything _scary_ around here."

Their confused looks turned to ones of anger.

"Scary?" the younger looking one of the girls commented. "The only thing I've seen around here that is scary is you humans!"

"And, you're saying you aren't human?" Will shot back. He knew he shouldn't have been arguing with a new Abnormal species, but something seemed to be pressuring him into a quarrel.

"William Zimmerman, I believe you and Dr Magnus should leave. Now!" The other, older one warned, her dark brown eyes piercing into his.

Will stumbled back, splashing water around him. They must have read his mind!

Magnus stepped forward. "Why do you want us to leave?" she asked.

"This creature of our forest, which you plaster with another one of your English labels, belongs to us. We will not let you take it away." the elder said.

"Your forest?" Will said incredulously. "This forest belongs to the New Zealand government and..."

He was cut off by Magnus warning, "Will..."

"William Zimmerman, your insolence will be your undoing and your boss's as well. This is our forest, and we, the Patupaiarehe, will not let you and your stupid government ruin our lives and ruin this forest. We have been around since the dawn of time, unlike your government," the elder spat.

Will was ready to say something scathing due to the anger boiling inside him, but was interrupted by Magnus yelling, "WILL!"

Will turned. Magnus had vanished. He stood there for a few shocked seconds and then turned back to face the Patupaiarehe.

In the few seconds he had been turned away, they had vanished. He could still hear the sound of their malevolent laughter floating through the air towards him, though.

He turned and headed back the way they had come. He needed to get into Gisborne, call Henry, and find out more about these Patupaiarehe.

000

Will was sitting in Treble Court in Gisborne talking to Henry back at the Sanctuary.

"So, can you and Kate look up these Patupaiarehe?" he asked. "And yes, that's Patu-paia-rehe. I'm not sure how it's spelt. Thanks. Bye." He closed his phone and put it in his pocket, pausing as he thought about what to do next. There was a library just across the street so he headed towards it.

Inside the library, it was cool, and Will seemed to relax a bit as he entered. Everything was going to be fine. He would find Helen and... He was dragged from his thoughts by a hand waving in front of his face.

"Hello? Excuse me, sir?" the owner of the hand, a girl who looked about eighteen, questioned.

"Yeah, sorry, um, what?" Will answered

"Hi, I'm Raven Aranga. Welcome to the HB Williams Memorial Library and..." Raven decided to abandon her duty as a trainee librarian and just ask what was wrong, She focused her blue eyes on him and said, "Um, sorry sir, if you don't mind me asking, what's wrong? Is it anything I can help you with?"

"Yeah, maybe." Will answered, "Do you know anything about the Patupaiarehe?"

"I think," Raven answered, "I may just be able to help you with that."

000

Raven knew a lot about the Patupaiarehe, having lived in Gisborne for eighteen years. According to her, Gisborne was a hive for mythical creature sightings, and she didn't have much trouble accepting the fact that Will was hunting for two of them.

"So, the only couple of places where they could have taken her would have been either Mt Hikurangi or Titirangi. The Patupaiarehe have a thing about notable hills and mountains in this area. That's where most of the sightings have been," Raven commented.

"I know where Mt Hikurangi is, but Titirangi?" Will asked.

"Most of the people around here know it as Kaiti Hill." Raven gestured out of the window at the fairly large hill looming over the city.

"Okay then," Will said, "That's where I'm going first, are you coming?"

"Me?" Raven asked. "You're asking me? Um, okay I suppose."

"Let's go then," Will replied. "This has gone on long enough."

He stood up from the chair, and Raven followed, tying her long blonde hair up out of her face.

000

It was sunset when they reached the top of the hill in their hired car. The golden rays of the sun glinted over the bay, creating patterns on the waves.

"What do I do now?" Will asked

"I dunno," Raven answered. "You could try calling them."

"Calling them?" Will questioned. "Um, okay, worth a shot."

"Patapaiarehe!" he called. "Guardians of the forest! I ask that you hear me! Bring my boss, my friend, back to us!"

"Well, that was dramatic." Raven muttered. "Are you going to say my love as well?"

"Shut up," Will answered.

For once, Raven shut up.

Two girls came out of the bushes, along with another red-haired man who was carrying Helen. They stood in the shadows and didn't let any part of themselves out into the sunlight.

"We have answered your call," the man said, "because we believe you two won't take away our creatures now. We have looked into her mind and seen the kindness of her heart and how the world greatly benefits from her being alive. Her death would throw the unknown world of this Earth into chaos."

"Thank you. We won't be back here," Will promised. "Please, just give her to me."

"If another one of you humans come to take away our creatures," the Patupaiarehe man said, "we will call her back. Her bond with us cannot be broken until the end of time itself. And that time, maybe we won't be so forgiving."

The Patupaiarehe passed Helen to Will. She didn't look too badly injured, aside from a few scratches and bruises. Raven ran and opened the car door, and Will laid Helen on the back seat.

Will turned back to the Patupaiarehe to give his thanks for returning Helen almost unharmed, but they had vanished into the trees. He didn't care though. Will called his thanks into the sky and then got into the car. As he started the engine and drove off, he swore he could see a flash of red hair through the trees.

000

Will had thanked Raven as he left on a private flight back to Auckland. From there, he would take Helen back to Canada.

Helen still hadn't regained consciousness by the time they returned, and Will was starting to get worried. He knew the Sanctuary was the safest place for her, surrounded by friends and superior medical equipment. He sat by her bedside, ate by her bedside, and even slept there. He wouldn't leave until she woke up.

It was on the morning of the fifth day when she finally started to stir.

She opened her eyes, and Will was extremely thankful to see those blue eyes again.

"Will? Oh, thank God," she sighed. "I've had the worst dream on Earth."

"You've been asleep for five days," Will said. "Thank God you've woken up. I thought you... Never mind."

"Will, I'm not going to leave like that!" Helen replied. "Speaking of five days, today's the twentieth, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Will said.

"Today's your birthday, Will. You spent so much time caring for me, you forgot when it was?" she asked

"Oh God! It is!" Will yelped. "Well, I suppose having you wake up is the biggest birthday treat anyone could give me, right now."

"Oh, Will," Helen replied. "Anyway, help me get up. I don't think being asleep for five days will have affected my legs much."

Will helped Helen out of bed, and she walked with him down towards her office.

The hallways of the Sanctuary were unusually silent for a place with a big population of generally wayward Abnormals.

Helen was glancing behind him all the way to the office. As they walked inside she commented, "You may have forgotten your birthday, but they definitely didn't."

Will swivelled. Behind him were Kate, Henry, Bigfoot, and many of the Sanctuary's other free residents. Bigfoot was even wearing a party hat. They all shouted "Happy Birthday!" as he stared at them in shock.

"God, guys. Thank you so much!" Will exclaimed. Seriously, how could his birthday get any better? He was surrounded by friends; he had one of the best jobs in the world; and he DEFINITELY had the best boss on this planet.


End file.
